Microsoft Streamlines Word, Excel, PowerPoint Mobile Apps

There are now only three tabs with the new look

Published February 10, 2020

Updated February 10, 2020 03:47PM EST

What: Microsoft Office mobile apps Word, Excel, and PowerPoint got a new, streamlined interface.

How: Microsoft pushed the update automatically, but you may need to force quit the apps (even if you've just downloaded them) to see the changes.

Why Do You Care: Creating and editing Office documents on your iPhone just got a little less complex.

Word, Excel, and Powerpoint mobile app screens with streamlined tabs at the bottom

Microsoft Office mobile apps got a facelift which streamlined the previous five tabs at the bottom to just three. Now you have a Home button, a New button, and an Open button that will allow you to create and edit any Word, Excel, or PowerPoint documents on your iPhone.

Tapping the Home button to the left will show you a list of recent documents for the app you're using. The New button (the middle Plus icon) will give you a screen like the ones above, with app-specific templates to create new documents. The Open file folder icon shows a list of documents you have on your iPhone, in the Files app, or other places, like OneDrive. You can Add a Place here, too.

New Office app interface with iOS dark mode

The interface changes just a little bit if you have iOS 13's Dark Mode enabled. The banner across the top no longer shows the color of the app; you'll have to look at the color of the New button (Plus icon) at the bottom to see that.

If you're looking to work with Microsoft Office documents on the go via your iPhone, this simple change could make things a little less complex than they were before. All this may just be a taste of what's to come, as Microsoft continues to work on an integrated Office beta app via Apple's TestFlight system.

Via: MacRumors